Résumé:

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the impact behaviour of flax/epoxy composite plates submitted to low-velocity transverse impact. Low energy drop-weight impact tests have been performed on two types of quasi-isotropic flax/epoxy composites, rectangularly shaped with edges lengths of 142 mm × 94 mm and 2.85 mm thick. Residual properties have been assessed by compression after impact tests. A detailed description of damage development, especially the increase of the rear face crack with respect to the impact energy is given by the microscopic observation. The influence of impact damage on the residual strength is described. A loss of 15%–30% in compression resistance was noticed for specimens impacted by 10 J. Dynamic effects appeared negligible and a good concordance was found between quasi-static three points bending and low energy impact loadings.

For several years, composite materials have taken a significant part in the realization of structures designed for transport (aeronautical, nautical, automotive. . .). In order to qualify the behavior of such structures, ...

This paper deals with a reliability approach applied on composite plates which should be used in railway structures under low velocity impact loading.Impacted composite plates in bending configuration are considered as an ...